The problem with WP.

[stupidsteven]

Carrier Representative

 

[stupidsteven]

So, I just want to know if anyone would agree. Recently I did an experiment and walked into about 8 different stores within my area. 5 ATT stores and 3 Verizon stores. My mission was simple, how many times would a representative lean me towards a windows phone?? I would tell the employee at all stores the same interests I was looking for within a smartphone ( great camera, easy to share on social networks, simple way of receiving information) obviously I pretended I didn't know a thing about smartphones these days. I also made it clear I didn't care about a "big app store" just wanted something simple. Of course, not one single employee dragged me towards a windows phone. Verizon without a doubt only showed me Android devices, not even iPhone. I told them that I didn't like the lagging within Android, and if they had something smoother. They still would show me more Android devices. I than would say "oh wow! What are those?!" (pointing towards the Lumia devices) they were dumb founded, the little info they new about windows phone was embarrassing, I couldn't believe these carriers don't show their employees the features WP has. All 8 stores said it's a great phone but I'm not familiar with it. Rather than just doing their job and selling a phone, they would try and pull you away from it. This is why Markey Share isn't great, At least I think so anyways. Carrier representatives need to do a better job at selling and knowing what they're selling. I could write so much more but I think I'm done. What do you think?

 

[gwinegarden]

The carriers get exclusives and then don't try to sell them. They only want them to lock out the competition. Another reason why carriers should not get them.

 

[stupidsteven]

I think with all the money Microsoft has put into WP, they need to have "special" representatives that know WP to be inside the store to demonstrate features Android, and iPhone can't do. Example: I absolutely love the "Rooms" within WP, that feature is never commercialized, now that I have more than half of my friends with a WP, we use it all the time. Along with my family.

 

[k72]

I think with all the money Microsoft has put into WP, they need to have "special" representatives that know WP to be inside the store to demonstrate features Android, and iPhone can't do.

Sort of like at best buy where they have an entire Windows specific area and they can help with a lot of things. That would be a great idea. Even just training one person from each store would help.

 

[Torcher Death]

Microsoft needs to start unloading WP representatives with each batch of Windows Phone.

 

[aximtreo]

Microsoft is spending mucho $ opening new MS stores or putting the carts in the malls. Why not look at putting small MS staffed show centers in BestBuy, Costco and other large stores. I would even suggest that they put a person with MS products in Verizon and AT&T's larger corporate stores.

If not this, advertise that they are having MS shows one day a week at some of these stores.

I am a professional salesman now retired. I sold high end research instruments for 30 years. I had to know not only my product but how it compared to the competition. When I interviewed and hired new sales people, I made sure they had a working knowledge of the product they were to sell and I would take care of making sure they knew about the competition.

Is this a fair comparison; phones to scientific instruments? Maybe not in complexity or price but surely is when you have to know what you are selling and why.

 

[Ray Shum]

Not until one knows little about WP actruly try it for a time than he realise how great it is. In China few stores sell WP devices, what's more, most of sellers even know nothing with Lumia.

 

[Pierre Blackwell]

What I found interesting is when I was walked into a Best Buy and was looking at a Win8.1 tablet a was,asked by an employee in the MSFT section about my 1520. I had the DP loaded then so he saw Cortana and the other additions. He called some of the other employees over and suddenly I was the one showing them things. Even some customers came over. Now the guy said he was being sent to New Orleans for a training seminar to learn how to work Cortana and other WP features. The problem is Best Buy doesn't have the WP selection most carriers have. It would be nice if carriers did that.

 

[tungah]

And that's when they don't go out of their way to bash Windows Phone. I was the other day in a Tim store (Brazil) with a friend checking out some Luima phones, when out of the blue, without being asked, a sales woman came to us and (I repete, out of nothing) started saying that those Lumia phones were not good. That people complained a lot that they are very slow and crash all the time. And invited us to look at the "Galaxy" phones.
I think Microsoft has an uphill battle in this front. It's a damn shame.

 

[stupidsteven]

I've never done marketing but I can't say I'm not good at it. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the "target" (non WP) just like I mentioned earlier. Best buy is a great example for this. Anyone that purchases a WP, wants to go to Best Buy/walmart ECT...and buy accessories, but the problem is there isn't any. Best Buy has a huge collection of PCs, but only one or two WPs showing in the mobile section. Just like Pierre said, they don't know anything about it.

 

[Sekyal]

That's stupid salespeople for you. I wouldn't trust a salesperson that sales other products that are sold in their store are crap. Maybe it is because they don't make much money off of their sales or maybe it is because they don't care for Windows Phone, but to say it is junk is not a good tactic for sales. If it is in your store, you sell it. It is all about what the customer wants, though obviously if there is commission or other things at play that can push you towards selling certain things but you still don't say things in your store aren't any good. Just explain what is better about the products you prefer to sell.

 

[EasilyTheBest]

Carphone Warehouse near me is a total joke. The display for windows phones will make a Windows fan cry.
The dummy phones on display are totally wrong.

Lumia 1020 - There's a Lumia 520
Lumia 925 - There's a Lumia 620
Lumia 625 - Red 620
Lumia 930 - Cyan 520
Lumia 635 - Black 520
Lumia 1320 The big screen phone - black Lumia 620!!!!!!!

The 520 in place of the 1020 has been like that for around 10 months!
The only display phone that they have correct is the Lumia 630.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.......

 

[stephen_az]

1) If you walk into a store and don't specify a brand, they will direct you to the items on which they have the best margin. Likewise, they will direct you to the stuff that makes up volume. It is retail and that is a fact of life. People should just get over this inferiority complex stuff - you set yourself up to be directed to precisely those products.
2) Walking into VZW stores in AZ and asking for a Windows Phone or carrying one consistently demonstrated that staff were sufficiently knowledgeable and had no hesitation talking or selling the brand. The difference, of course, being I wasn't trying to test anyone so they talked to me about what I wanted.
3) Why would anyone want to waste their time going around to different carrier stores to test the staff about this sort of thing? If you do not work for Microsoft, what is the point? It is just a retail product line, not your child. I just cannot see why anyone would invest that much in an inanimate object.
4) Since you were obviously not buying anything, you also wasted other peoples' time. They are being paid to actually sell things and/or support paying customers. Does your desire to test stores outweigh their need to sell products and employ staff or justify potentially inconveniencing actual paying customers?

I am sorry but people really need to take a step back and think about what they are saying and doing. There is far too much being invested in a couple hundred dollars worth of phone and OS. This also treads a line that would get Microsoft or another retailer in trouble if they did it themselves

 

[tgp]

Carphone Warehouse near me is a total joke. The display for windows phones will make a Windows fan cry.
The dummy phones on display are totally wrong.

Lumia 1020 - There's a Lumia 520
Lumia 925 - There's a Lumia 620
Lumia 625 - Red 620
Lumia 930 - Cyan 520
Lumia 635 - Black 520
Lumia 1320 The big screen phone - black Lumia 620!!!!!!!

The 520 in place of the 1020 has been like that for around 10 months!
The only display phone that they have correct is the Lumia 630.

Were the prices also wrong? Meaning were the prices marked for the phone advertised or the one actually displayed? I guess the prices had to be wrong one way or the other (unless the 2 happened to be the same price)!

1) If you walk into a store and don't specify a brand, they will direct you to the items on which they have the best margin. Likewise, they will direct you to the stuff that makes up volume. It is retail and that is a fact of life. People should just get over this inferiority complex stuff - you set yourself up to be directed to precisely those products.
2) Walking into VZW stores in AZ and asking for a Windows Phone or carrying one consistently demonstrated that staff were sufficiently knowledgeable and had no hesitation talking or selling the brand. The difference, of course, being I wasn't trying to test anyone so they talked to me about what I wanted.
3) Why would anyone want to waste their time going around to different carrier stores to test the staff about this sort of thing? If you do not work for Microsoft, what is the point? It is just a retail product line, not your child. I just cannot see why anyone would invest that much in an inanimate object.
4) Since you were obviously not buying anything, you also wasted other peoples' time. They are being paid to actually sell things and/or support paying customers. Does your desire to test stores outweigh their need to sell products and employ staff or justify potentially inconveniencing actual paying customers?

I am sorry but people really need to take a step back and think about what they are saying and doing. There is far too much being invested in a couple hundred dollars worth of phone and OS. This also treads a line that would get Microsoft or another retailer in trouble if they did it themselves

Good points. These are things to keep in mind.

 

[xxxneoxxx]

In the Netherlands, i was once told that Samsung specifically, gives out a higher comission % on sales than other brands. Always thought it was bull, until i went into the MediaMarkt (kind of a big electronics chain over here, which has it's roots in Germany) to get a new washing machine recently, and a sales guy kept pushing a new washing machine made by Samsung, whilst i specifically mentioned i wanted a German brand like Siemens or Bosch. Just because i have good experiences with these brands. Anyhow, from all the washing machines they sell, they had 2 specific models of Samsungs vs a lot more of Siemens and Bosch. Around the same price point to, yet the sales guy kept pushing the Samsung.

I do get that people will probably try to sell u the stuff they know most about, since people might return with questions or problems, simply put, as a sales clerk, u probably know most about stuff you sell the most. Even if it's not fair and honest, if i.e. samsung is giving out higher comissions than the competition, i also get they want to sell more Samsungs because it is in their own benefit. Might not be too fair and honest towards your customers, but it is the way the world works. Unfortunately.

Good thing we have internet nowadays so people can research stuff themselves. Also, the "buyers beware" proverb is more relevant than ever nowadays. Too bad common sense seem to be a special skill that a lot of people haven't mastered though.

 

[colinkiama]

Shouldn't microsoft have some kind of tutorial app on the phone on display, that would make things much easier for the sales man since they aren't even bothered to do any research on it.

OMG I just realised, there's not really a tutorial system on WP! I know it's easy to use but it isn't exactly iPhone easy.

 

[ajl]

They just aren't as popular. They don't want to be the reason someone doesn't enjoy their phone. By no means am I saying the average consumer wouldn't enjoy a WP. But, in their mind, it isn't popular for a reason. If they don't have experience with it, they don't want to speak on something they have little information about.

You have to rely on advertisement for WP to get the recognition it deserves.

 

[colinkiama]

Lol, I have an Idea, someone should go to the stores to expose how the salesman lie about windows phone, their lack of knowledge and how they push you into picking Samsung using a hidden camera. In the UK it's not like this.

 

[colinkiama]

They just aren't as popular. They don't want to be the reason someone doesn't enjoy their phone. By no means am I saying the average consumer wouldn't enjoy a WP. But, in their mind, it isn't popular for a reason. If they don't have experience with it, they don't want to speak on something they have little information about.

You have to rely on advertisement for WP to get the recognition it deserves.

yeah that's true. But it's getting some recognition now in the US due to the siri vs cortana ad, that's a start.